Quintessential Studios' Weblog

This last week was very eye-opening for me in a few ways. It’s not that any of these ideas are new to me; it’s just that I’m looking at them from a different viewpoint. Sometimes, you just take “facts” for granted. Sometimes you have epiphanies but you don’t give them all that much credence. I’m looking at these things anew. I’m “just” realizing the implications of this information and how it will really apply to me in my future and my future career path.

It all started with LAFCPUG on Jan 18th. There Michael Cioni, from Light Iron, talked about the “transformation” of digital cinema. He talked about the current workflows and how people just need to understand that this is how it works these days.

After a couple emails with Michael, I decided to peruse his company’s website and discovered free classes that Michael delivers there. I wasn’t the only one, as many of the attendees at the Jan 25th class had been at LAFCPUG the week before too. This class, first in a series they teach, is called “State of D-Cinema”, D-Cinema of course meaning “digital cinema”. This class pointed out the history and major time points of digital cinema and touched on this thing called “philosophies”. This is where I had one of those “duh” epiphanies. People have different philosophies, this transcends all areas of life beliefs, including technical, and indeed it is hard to reach agreement between people with different basic deep beliefs or “philosophies”.

I’ve talked about this before in a different vein, old computer mainframe operators complaining that there will never be anything better than mainframes and thinking they will have a job forever. But I’ve also talked about this in the very same vein, film projectionists thinking that film will “never go away”. Well, and as was pointed out in the “State of D-Cinema”, as much as you may like film, you won’t be able to manufacture it yourself and soon the manufacturers, if not already, will stop making it. They do not make film projectors any more, period. Think about it. Digital projection is the majority now in theaters. “All will be digital!” (Until something different comes along!)

Where are we now?
With all of this “digitalness”, comes the awareness that the only ones in the process who have been doing things digital for some time now, are the post production people. I mean think about it. Even animation, a very “production” sided activity is lumped in with the techies in post. Why is that?

Now, with the state of digital cinema as it is, we have post personnel needing to be a part of the production phase more than ever. It is so much so, that really, post is production. We have DIT’s, Data Wranglers, etc. on the set. We have to apply coloring samples to the raw picture so directors have an idea of what they will get in post. And we have lots of technology sitting there in “production” that once was just in the editing bay.

This is just a scratch into the surface of what is all there and expected right here and now. There is wireless transmission of “instant” dailies and on and on. What the heck will the future be like? Post is Production, there’s no doubt. It’s even a little pre-production.

More on the technology of post
Post production software has transformed too and is even transforming more than the general public is aware of. Final Cut Pro X floundered on the scene last year to much disgruntlement. It was “mainframe operators” saying you can’t get rid of mainframe computers, really. Since post is really all technology (not talking about the art of cutting, just the tools), then we really have to look to what technology itself is doing.

iPads and tablets are where computing is going. It’s funny how technology goes in circles. We used to have dumb terminals in the workplace, all connected to a, you guessed it, a mainframe computer. Then we got desktops networked into the mainframe. Then the mainframe went away. Or did it?

Let’s face it. Software is going to the cloud. Storage is going to the cloud. The software companies are going to subscription based software for a number of reasons. Yes, they are! There will no longer be a need for desktops. You will be able to do all of your work on “dumb terminals”. Whether those dumb terminals are iPads, iPods, tablets or mac airs, who knows. But seriously you will only need interfaces in the future. It’s all going to the “cloud”.

Current post production consists of big computers and lots of storage hardware and personally owned copies of software. Enjoy it while you can. Before you know it, these will all change.

I’m not saying I’m for this change. I’m just saying it’s an inevitable destination. I think the very aware ones are already preparing for this. I think the next level are just going with the flow of what’s here now and maybe are the bleeding edge guys. Then come the clueless who just wonder “why are they changing things that are working just fine”. And then, even below the clueless, are the “mainframe operators” who will yell to no end that “they can’t get rid of mainframes!”

Next blog post: What is Adobe Prelude?

As one gets older, time goes by faster and faster. It’ll be four years (on Feb 18) since I started on this video editing journey, when I first stepped into TEL-64, Digital Editing Principles, at Riverside Community College, taught by one Nino Giornalista and began to be amazed at this wondrous program called Final Cut Pro 6!

Since then, I’ve amassed over 100 filmmaking books, countless magazines, thirty-five film and TV and computer related college credits, some CEUs, quite a few certificate classes and seminars and a few hundred(?) hours of actual experience (including a couple IMBD credits). Even with all of this education, I would still not say I’m “ready for prime time”.

I have a firm belief in “too long a runway” will give you more opportunity to fail. So, I’m prepping for take-off soon, so that I don’t fall off the cliff. I’d rather get some miles flown away from the island toward filmmaking civilization than be forever stranded and never accomplish anything.

In my quest, I also reach back and try to help others in similar quests too. As you know, I run the Independent Filmmakers of the Inland Empire. I do this to help create a community in my area. It’s rewarding and I get more back than I put into it, so that’s cool too.

In taking off, it helps to have a flight plan and, per my earlier post, I’m defining more and more who I am, or more accurately where I’m going.

At LAFCPUG this last Wednesday, there was a career coach that talked about “Breakthrough goals”. These I would describe as steps toward a larger objective. This quarter, I am going to edit for someone else’s project. This is something a little bit off of my island that I feel will really start me on my journey.

I’m also going to start to finish reading the books I have. The key word there is finish. I seem to start a lot of them but an easily distracted toward some other thing. I guess this all fits into my overall goal for myself to be more streamlined. I think finishing what I start is a good definition for that goal. Shot.edit.learn has started a filmmaking book club, this should help me get through some books! http://shooteditlearn.com/blog/2012/01/23/book-club-for-filmmakers/

I am working with some others who want to work on their filmmaking goals this year too. Working together helps.

Here’s to you and you reaching your goals! If I can assist in any way, let me know!

This will be my fourth NAB (in a row). Ever since the first one, I have vowed to attend every one! They are too much fun, especially for a filmmaking gear and tech junkie like myself.

This time, Independent Filmmakers of the Inland Empire (IFIE), the group I founded, will be throwing a party!

Planning any type of get together at NAB can be tricky. Upon asking a potential sponsor if they’d like to help, they informed me that, while it was a secret right now, they were going to be announcing a BIG party that same night and I wouldn’t want to miss it…. I’m going forward with mine, just trying for an after-party, more so now.

So far I am aware of the following parties/events that I consider “must attends”:
• RED User Party (Sunday, 6-10-ish PM)
• *IFIE Monster Mini Golf Presents KISS Indoor Mini Golf Tournament (Sunday?)
• All In Film (on Monday)
• MediaMotion Ball April 16th Monday <- Tickets available in Feb at http://www.mediamotionball.com/signup.html
• Supermeet aka FCPUG Network Supermeet (usually on a Tuesday)
• AJA Party (?)
• ProMax usually throws a party too…

I’ll update the list as I find out more. Comment below if your privy to any more or more details… Thanks!

Okay, so I promised to write here more often and here’s another post to help keep up with my word.

It’s already been two weeks and it barely feels like two days!

I’ve had one photo-travel getaway, had a couple of great meetings, and I almost have all the Christmas decorations put away.

I tweeted this the end of Dec: “If ‘writing is rewriting’ and ‘editing is re-editing’, I’m going to ‘invent’ myself in 2012.” I think for me, at this point, that that means I’m going to try to really define what goals I want for myself and define, more clearly, who I am. Existentially, that, really, always changes but for this phase of “me”, I am deciding to give myself some more clearly defined “boundaries”, let’s say.

Hmm… yeah… so I guess this post is really about how as much as I want to be defined, I am always well aware that life is a “globulous” organism, constantly in flux. I’ve heard it said, “You never know which road you’re on” when it comes to career. You may start out doing one thing and never realize you’re going to be heading down a path to do another thing, that you’re going to completely enjoy but that you’ve never heard of before.

Having said all of that, let me start to define who I am. By “who I am”, I mean in the working sense. This has no bearing on what kind of person I am (necessarily), my family life nor my political views (I hate talking politics, BTW), etc. I am an editor. This itself has many definitions and is my favorite label. I am a producer. I founded and run a filmmaking usergroup. I am a student (on many levels, career and life and I consider this under the term “life-long learner”).

Now that it’s clear who I am… crystal, right…? I will try to keep my future posts related to the above four labels. (Note: “editor” label will include the occasional VFX, colorist, audio, etc. [anything post related really] topics and “producer” label may include various filmmaking topics.) I have many adventures planned this year. I hope you’ll join me.